The Guardians: The Elemental's Champions
by Shios
Summary: New version. Warriors of different universes are recruited to an Inter-dimensional organization sworn to protect all worlds. The secret of it's origin and it's leaders is key to success. Main characters from Ranma 1/2, Zelda, FFVII and DBZ.


**READ THIS BEFORE PLEASE**: Hey guys I need to tell you some things about this here story of mine before you actually start it. I'm one of those people who need to get the facts straight before I write a story original or otherwise, so I try my best at getting the information I need. There is of course parts of it that are modified, meaning that some facts of a show, book or videogame will be modified for the sake of the story and they will be obvious, specially to the hardcore fan. That being said, you'll find many things that are not true or are a bit different, but that is why this is called a FANFIC. You might not agree with some things and I'm aware of that, so I will ask you not to flame about it because you will just be ignored. Constructive criticism however is welcomed because I am, of course, not the best writer and you can comment about something that you think I might have missed or don't know just as long as you are cool about it. Trust me when I say that I won't go 'You suck because you don't like my story', because that's just plain stupid. But enough talk. Enjoy!

Oh! And I don't own maaaany of these characters, those belong to their respective creators

**Chapter 1**

**Dreams**

_A past may chase you if you try to escape from it…but once you confront it,_

_It's just an old memory inside you. There's nothing to be afraid of._

_**- Cho Hakkai (Gensomaden Saiyuki)**_

This was stupid. How could they be lost? And in some desert no less? Not to say that getting lost in one was impossible, it was the fact that they were even in it that was the problem. So, they were unnecessarily standing in scorching heat in the middle of the desert (in what seemed to be noon, judging by the position of the sun), there was no food to be had because no one had seemed to have enough presence of mind to actually bring any, at least they brought water, and they were not doing anything but feeling hopelessly stranded in the middle of nowhere, hoping for a rescue. Yep, the worlds' mighty protectors out to save the day. How embarrassing.

Genma Saotome (or Saotome Genma, depending of what side of the hemisphere you hail from) didn't mind the heat; he was used to it. He had had much difficult and arduous training just to master the control of anything that concerned heat and fire to give it much thought. No, the heat wasn't the problem. Hunger was. He, being the glutton that he was, could barely stand not eating at least something small like cookies, every hour or so. It had already been four hours since he ate breakfast and his stomach was starting to protest his lack of attention to it, way more persistently. And the damn sun in his eyes! Yeah, he was sooooo going to kill somebody.

It didn't help that the rest of the warriors were expecting him to get them out of there. Well, him and the other three high ranking officers there. His partner, of course, was one of the other people who they were waiting on and he was obviously annoyed by it. _He _was feeling the heat.

"I fuckin' hate this place." His partner said with that British-like accent. "I need to get the hell out of

here!"

"Well, Kent, what do you want me to do about it?" Genma asked annoyed as he turned to look at him. His partner didn't reply.

Kent'nye Nolathary d'Dania. That was his name. He was an elven like being, with strange red eyes. Those eyes of his were one of the many oddities about him, and they weren't even the most interesting aspect of his friend. There were many things about him that made him very strange even amongst his own people. Everything else about him seemed perfectly ordinary for an elf which, of course, included the pointy ears. He was slightly taller than Genma and he was also a year older than him, which he liked to rub in his face. He had that athletic build that came from years of training and exercise. He had long blond hair with long bangs that came down almost past his jaw and stray locks that fell elegantly in his face. It was tied back with bandages rather than a string which ended up just showing the tips of his hair that ended half way down his back. His face wasn't overly feminine which was typical of his kind, but not too masculine either. He looked kind of mean though. He was wearing the 'uniform' of their group, which consisted of an all black trench coat, black pants and, in his case, a blue shirt. His clothes were in his style, as were the clothes of the other people in the group. So, as monotonous as an all black uniform was, there was still an amount of individuality. Kent's clothes were medieval based and Genma's were Asian based and he wore a red shirt as opposed to Kent's blue. They both wore a long chain around their necks to which hung a small medallion that was half gold half silver with a strip of copper dividing each. Only they and other three people had it, a symbol of rank.

"Why are we here again?" Genma asked this time.

"How the hell should I know? We just are. It's one of those stupid random moments in our lives y'know?"

His speech was very unbecoming for an elven. Of course, he didn't call himself an elf, but for Genma and the others, he was very much an elf even though Kent insisted that it wasn't the same. How wasn't that the same? It made no sense. He had the damn same attributes! But whenever somebody pointed that out to him, he glared at them. And being glared at by Kent'nye was not pretty. But girls would probably swoon over him for that.

"Well, why is it that some bullshit like this always happens? I mean," Genma turns to look around them, "what's the point in it?"

"There isn't one, that's the fuckin' problem." Answered a voice from behind. They both turned to look behind them and found themselves staring at the one and only Mijel Strife, one of the scariest bastards ever. At first glance he wasn't all that scary, just… odd looking. Mijel had blond spiky hair, gray eyes and athletic build. He was a good five years older than Genma and he was half a head taller than both Genma and Kent and was _very_ intimidating. His aura made sure of that. He may not look like too much but it was what one could sense about him that made people wary. They were both very much used to him though; in fact, Mijel was one of their closest friends and he was trustworthy and very loyal. That didn't mean that he couldn't get majorly pissed off and kick the living shit out of them though. He was one of the four high ranks there. In his case, the color that he wore, other than the standard black, was white, sometimes he wore silver. And because his name was difficult to pronounce, they just called him Mike.

"What do ya mean?" Kent asked him.

He came closer to stand next to them, looking at the never ending field of sand. He had a frown on his handsome face and seemed pensive. The other two looked in the direction he was staring off to, wondering whether he saw something. There was nothing of interest. Although…. What was that feeling? After a few seconds, he finally turned to look at them again and shook his head.

"You've both noticed that there is always something that goes strangely wrong, with nothing that should have gone wrong in the first place. As far as we're all concerned, the coordinates were accurate and the ship was fully functional, yet it warped us to a seemingly deserted place, not to mention that we ended up stranded." He turned back to looking into the distance. "There shouldn't be any reason why we are here. Like Elvy here said, it's just another of those stupid random moments."

"The other times the situation was actually funny." Genma said. "Of course that's _after_ we got out of there that we thought it was funny or if it was happening to someone else."

"Or it was just _bizarre_." Kent added. Mijel nodded.

"It's as if someone wanted us to be in those places." another voice this time from _above _them said.

They all looked up, to find Bardock flying just a few feet over them. He was the strongest bastard they had on their group and he was their leader. Well, one of them. He was two years older than Mijel and was almost as big as he was tall and not because of fat. He stood a good head taller than Genma, and his body was full of muscle. It wasn't like those huge body builders, but close. His black hair was inexplicably spiky. Mijel's hair could at least be explained away as gel holding it up, but not Bardock's. It stuck up at the front and at the back and straight to the sides. He had black intimidating eyes and… a monkey tail. His uniform color (other than black) was a golden yellow. He, too, wore the medallion.

He was Mijel's partner and like Mijel, his intimidating persona was pushed aside by his incredible over protectiveness and actual friendly demeanor, not that he was friendly with everyone, only to those he trusted and truly knew. Though, he could also be _very _scary when pissed off. He watched over the three as if they were his annoying little brothers. He watched over the others of course, he just found it more necessary to keep an eye on Genma and the other three, the third being elsewhere.

"Someone wants us to be in random places at random times?" Genma asked, "What the hell for?"

"You're asking way too many questions today otouto." Bardock told him, referring to Genma as little brother in Japanese as he landed next to them.

"Of course I am! Situations like these," he gestured around him, "require questions."

"The problem is," Mijel said, "we don't _have _all the answers, only more questions."

"Well, what Bardock said actually makes sense." Kent told them. "I mean, it could actually be some higher power that's doing this."

"Higher power as in…?" Mike asked.

"I don't know! How many higher powers are there?"

"Too many." Bardock said. "Some higher than others."

"It's probably Loki." Genma said referring to the Norse god of mischief while glaring at the sky.

"Doubt its Loki." Bardock said dismissively.

"Why?" Kent asked him.

"'Cause Loki does things for the hell of it."

"And this is not one of those situations?" Mike asked him raising his eyebrows.

"No." he said. The others looked at him in confusion. "Can't you feel it?" he asked them. They knew what he was referring to. While there was nothing out of the ordinary in the scenery, there was something rather odd in the atmosphere. Like an energy pulsating in the distance, merely announcing it's presence but not coming close enough to be recognized. It had been nagging at them ever since they got there, but they hadn't acted on it unsure of what it could provoke. Genma looked around at the rest of the group with them seemingly absorbed in their little conversations to see if they gave any indication of sensing it. And sure enough, small movements of their eyes looking around, seemingly casual shifting of position and rubbing of arms indicated that they were feeling something but were unsure of what to do about it. Some of them occasionally looked in Genma's and the others direction, waiting for an order. They were all well trained warriors, some even before being recruited. Their instincts were good.

"So, it _isn't _just me." Kent said under his voice. He too, had been looking around at their friends.

"Is it dangerous you think?" Genma asked the two older men.

"Not sure." Mijel said. "It's not strong enough for me to tell. But knowing our luck, it must be trouble."

"This brings us back to what we were saying." Bardock said looking into the distance. "Every time something like this happens, in the middle of all the random shit, there's always some situation we need to fix."

"Yeah, that's true. Even Lance doesn't know it's there until it's shoved in his face. And it also means that there _is _a point to this." Kent said. They all nodded. "What should we do?" he asked Bardock.

Before he could answer, the air near them suddenly… warped. There was an energy forming in the air distorting the scenery behind it and turning black. It grew bigger, creating a hole, until it was wide enough for a grown man to come through, which was exactly what happened. A man as tall as Mijel came walking through it as naturally as if it was just a common door. He had long blond hair, tied back in a simple pony tail, some shorter locks hanging loosely around the front. His eyes were a combination of greens and browns and a golden frame around the iris. They were the strangest eyes Genma had ever seen. Otherwise he looked quite normal, handsome to a fault, but not overly strange looking. He wore a normal black trench coat, black pants and a green button down shirt. The fifth medallion was hanging from his neck.

He also had an intimidating aura which was not as intimidating once you got to know him, but he could manipulate it so, that even the people closest to him would feel fear. But he only did that when he needed to now, opposed to when they had first met. It didn't help that he actually knew every one of their weaknesses. Reason for this was because he was the one in charge of training them and keeping them in line and also leading them to a certain extent. At the beginning it was hard, there were too many free and independent spirits in the group, but once they truly got to know each other and understand what being a part of this small organization meant, there was less need to utilize the fear factor. Genma wondered if he was the only one of the five that _didn't_ intimidate by just standing still.

This was Lance D'Shaen, the 'leader' of the group. The fifth member of Genma's so called 'brothers' and 'the middle child', being only one year older than Kent. He was extremely intelligent, understanding situations faster than anyone he ever met. He was also a sponge for knowledge, able to take in every bit of information given to him and storing it away and later accessing it easily. He, by no means, knew everything, but he knew enough and was ready to learn more.

Immediately after everyone realized that it was a portal and who it might be, they stood in attention, standing in three horizontal lines, each team of two standing a little apart from the next. Genma and Kent didn't stand in attention, neither did Mijel and Bardock, but they did place themselves at the front of the group, Genma on one end, Kent on the other, with Mijel and Bardock standing in the middle, Bardock next to Genma. Lance stood there looking at them for a second, then he glanced off to his side at the scenery. He frowned at whatever he saw, shook his head, looked at Mijel, glared at him and then looked at Bardock respectfully, pointedly ignoring Mijel who was glaring back at him. Bardock rolled his eyes.

Typical.

You could say that their relationship was unorthodox, but for them it was perfectly normal, sometimes they forgot that they were actually _not_ related. It was a sign of how much they cared and trusted each other that they didn't care what anyone really thought about it. So, Lance and Mijel's silent bickering was just the way of things and if it didn't happen on occasion, it was something to worry about. The fact that they got along so well put the others at ease somehow, like it was a symbol of stability of some kind. Some would say that it was exactly that, and when Genma stopped to think about it, he came to realize that it was, in a way, true, since they were after all the representation of something that _needed_ to be stable.

"So," Lance began in his British accent, "lost again are we?"

Bardock glared at his little brother. "You know perfectly well that we're not, boy."

"Yeah," he said casually, "but then again, _you_ know that sometimes you _do _get lost and then use the random factor as an excuse."

True… damn.

"Yes, well, this time we _didn't _get lost." Mijel said annoyed.

Lance looked at him and returned the glare that Mike was giving him. They stayed like that for a few seconds until Bardock cleared his throat and stared pointedly at them. Behind them, Genma could hear the others either laugh a little or sigh in annoyance.

Lance regained himself a little, "You're lucky that I sensed that annoying thing at the distance or I wouldn't believe you." He said still glaring at Mike, "You were pretty off this morning Mike, so you could have gotten them lost considering that I gave _you _the information." He cocked his head to the side and asked Mike in fake concern, "Something wrong Mikey?"

"Shut the hell up you bitchy pretty boy!" Mike told him angrily, obviously striking a nerve. Genma wondered why.

"Make me." Lance said through clenched teeth.

"We do _not _have time for your stupid cat fat boys!" Bardock interrupted before Mike could retort. This time Genma heard the others snort in laughter. He was surprised that they hadn't done much but stand there; there was usually a comment of some kind. "Right now there is something going on and we have to check it out before it comes to bite us in the ass! You know this!" Bardock was telling them angrily. "Behave!" Lance and Mike both looked down and glared sullenly at the sand. But in seconds Lance was back to his usual self and took control again.

"You're right, we need to check this out." He looked apologetically at Bardock, "I want the usual six teams to split and explore, I want constant communication, the other four teams stay and guard the ship. Genma, Kent, I need you to go east." They both looked at him knowingly and nodded. "Bardock, Mijel, you stay with me. Move out!" They were on the move in an instant. Genma and Kent went east as instructed, the other teams going in separate directions. The three men behind them huddled in private conversation, Mike and Lance forgetting their squabble of just a minute ago, as usual.

Genma and Kent ran with uncommon speed in the direction of what they believed was the source of the energy. They looked in all directions as they ran, trying to see anything strange as they approached the estimated spot. Neither spoke until they were a couple of miles away from the ship.

"Wonder what's wrong with the guys." Genma said finally.

"Which guys?"

"All of them. They were pretty silent and you and I know that's not normal." Genma explained.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Kent said. "They are a loud group, this silence has me worried. Wonder if they are feeling this more strongly than us."

"It's possible, I mean, we have an advantage o'er them." Genma said thoughtfully. "Which could easily be the reason for their uneasiness."

"But don't you feel uneasy, Gen?" Kent said to him as he set his eyes on his friend's face. "Don' you feel something incredibly wrong?"

"Well," Genma began as they slowed down now that they could feel it closer, "I suppose. I mean," he turned to look at him, "it doesn't help that it feels… familiar."

"Yeah. Exactly." Said Kent as they came to a stop.

They fell silent as they inspected the area. According to what they were feeling, the source of energy should be really close. They should be practically standing on it, in fact. But as they looked and walked further, they found nothing but sand. But as they continued walking, there was suddenly something terribly wrong, even if there wasn't any obvious sign of it and Kent was quick in pointing it out.

"There's no life."

"Um, well, we _are_ in a desert." Genma said to his friend, thinking that the fact was obvious.

"No, Gen." Kent said turning to look at him. "Despite the heat and barren ground, there is always something that adapts to it, as impossible as it seems. Normal and magical creatures can find ways to survive in these conditions. Even humans can do so. All that they need to do, is know their surroundings." He paused and looked around. "But there is absolutely no life for miles around."

"How do you know that?" Genma asked starting to feel nervous.

"You know what I am, outouto." Kent said quietly. "You know that I'm right."

Genma gave an audible gulp. He looked around trying this time to use more than his eyes. He connected himself to his surroundings just like he was trained to do. It was not that easy to him, reason why he was slow to catch on to what Kent had naturally noticed. As he opened himself to the world around him, he came to realize that there was no energy of life. Not from the beings that would live there and not from the atmosphere itself. The world was always pulsating from the feeling of life, there were always energies that crossed each other in an array of patterns and designs, giving beauty to everything and anything that lived in its web. They could be found anywhere, regardless of the appearance of a place. Genma suddenly felt foolish for thinking it obvious that a desert would have no life. Because Kent was right, one being might not survive in these conditions while another could thrive in it. And the magic of nature itself would be there, contributing to it, combining itself with its pulse, it's vitality, mixing itself with the loud or soft sounds that were always existent regardless of ones capacity or presence to hear them, mixing itself with the instincts that accompanies everything that lived around it.

But Kent was also right about there not being any life… _at all._

There was no pulse, no magic energies, no sounds of living beings hidden under the sand, no instincts of survival, no… nothing. There was nothing. The only thing that he could sense was his partner, he could only sense _his _magic, _his_ life. It was so unnatural that it made him breathless with fear and incomprehension. How could a place feel so dead? It wasn't possible. He was so shaken by the revelation that he hadn't noticed Kent's hand on his shoulder, his voice calling to him in worry until he shook him. He realized that he was shaking and his mouth was slightly open. Genma came to himself slowly and once he was finally in control of himself, he released the connection. He looked into the worried eyes of his friend and realized that he was afraid too. The fear and pain were evident in his eyes, it must have hit him as hard as it had him, but he was more experienced in keeping himself under control under these circumstances. He shook his head to clear it and slowly removed his brother's hand from his shoulder.

"Are you okay, Gen?" Kent asked him still worried.

"Are you?" he asked in return.

Kent hesitated before saying, "Sorta."

"Then that's how I feel." Kent nodded. They were silent for a moment, then Genma decided to break it. "What the _hell_ man?"

"I know. It's not… possible."

"Not _possible_? It's not supposed to happen at all!" Genma said almost breaking down again.

"Which would be the meaning of '_not possible'._" Kent deadpanned. They fell silent again.

"We should…" Genma swallowed after a few minutes of stunned silence. "We should… contact the others."

Kent nodded slowly, and raised his arm to speak into the communicator attached to his wrist. "Lance. Come in, Lance."

"Lance here." Lance voice said from the other end. "What did you find?"

"We, um, we didn't… um, find… anything." Kent replied, obviously still shaken. There was silence at the other end. They both stood there waiting for a reply.

"Are you two alright?" asked Lance with a little worry coming through to his voice.

"Um, well…" said Genma this time. "Not… really."

"Not really? Guys, what in the hell? You're voices are shaky and your speaking as if your staring at something really disconcerting in the face!"

"We… kind of are, in a way." Kent said, "You would have to come and see for yourselves."

"I hate it when you get fucking cryptic, Elvy!" came Mijel's voice. "You just said that you didn't find anything, and now you're telling us that you're staring it in the face! Just tell us what the hell you found!"

"I can't really tell you without completely freakin' out!"

There was a stunned silence after this declaration from everyone listening in on the conversation. Which was all of them. Kent was not known to break down or to completely freak out. Oh, he could get nervous and such, but he wasn't somebody who would let that take control of him. He would always manage to keep himself focused on the task regardless of said feelings. Genma was also not somebody who would allow such things to get in his way, especially because his partner wouldn't allow him to let it control him. As such, everyone who had heard Kent was seriously considering on freaking out themselves, but a measure of self control and the fact that they were not experiencing what the other two were, kept them from doing so.

Many would consider it an overreaction on both Genma's and Kent's part, but those people couldn't possibly comprehend or appreciate the implications of what they were feeling. Oh, they would probably feel uneasy, but the young men's connection to the planet was so strong that an anomaly like this affected them badly. To feel the planet's energies came with the job, in fact it came with their _blood. _To feel nothing for miles around was incredibly unsettling, so much so, that it would shake the strongest of them to the core, because it obviously meant that something was terribly wrong.

There was not a place in the world that could be so completely dead. The magic and energies would always be existent even after incredible destruction or on a battle field. The energies would be negative but they would _be_ there and life was not completely non-existent after battles' end. Anyone who went to inspect it would see only death and destruction, but they would _feel_ the energies of death and life would be in the carrion eaters that would find their feast after everything had settled down. Not to mention that atmospheres would always exist; sad ones, happy ones, peaceful ones, content ones, dangerous ones among many others. So the point was, there was always _something_, not _nothing at all._

"Okay." Lance said gently. "Okay. Calm yourselves. We'll go where you are. Send me the coordinates."

Genma reached for the celphone in his pouch and shakily started to type in the coordinates, being careful to check the GPS and such to get it right. Once he was sure that he typed them in correctly, he sent it to Lance hoping that they would get there soon. As they waited they stood as close to each other as they would dare, seeking comfort in each other's distinct life. They heard Lance's voice through the communicator telling the others to continue their mission and report anything that seemed remotely out of the ordinary. Minutes past and the lack of life was seriously starting to get to them. It was like a plague. A very fast spreading plague.

It didn't take the other three long to get where they were after instructions were given, soon after they heard Lance break off communication they sensed them just a mile away. In a minute they were all three, Lance, Bardock and Mijel, appearing just a few feet away. Lance looked around as he walked towards them they sensed him open his mind to the world and then he suddenly froze in place. Kent and Genma watched as Lance's eyes widened in horror and his mouth slowly opened. He then started to look widely around him as if searching for the answer. Bardock and Mijel reacted much the same as they did. Although, Bardock's reaction was a little more composed than his brothers', but he still seemed incredibly stunned. Not able to find anything, Lance finally looked at Genma and Kent still standing closely next to each other and watching them nervously.

"Even that strange energy is gone." Mijel said breathlessly staring into the distance. "What the _hell_?"

"What is this?" Bardock asked softly.

"I don't… I don't know." Came Lance's uncertain reply. "Let me think for a bit." He sat himself on the ground crossed legged and head down. They left him to it. Lance's connection to the Earth was stronger than theirs due to the conditions of the place, so better not to interfere.

Bardock approached the two younger men who were still in the same place watching him with uncertainty. It was like looking at two lost children who were afraid of the world. Standing there waiting hadn't done anything but make them feel worse and worse. Genma could tell that Bardock knew that by the way he approached them.

"Are you two okay?" Bardock asked them, more to break their silence than two actually find out if they were, because they were obviously_ not_ okay. Both just stared at him. Bardock nodded and looked at Mijel.

"Mike?" he asked him.

"I'm fine, well, better than they are at least." He said with a bit of a shrug, trying to sound nonchalant, but Genma heard his nervousness that he wouldn't have heard if he didn't know him so well.

"I know. They are the youngest, maybe it hit them harder?"

"No, I think it's because they've been here for almost fifteen minutes." Mike said.

"We shouldn't have made them wait here." Bardock said with frustration. "They were obviously uneasy. We should have told them to come to us."

"They were nervous, but coherent." Mijel said. "We couldn't have known that it was affecting them so badly, not these two."

"I know but-" Bardock was suddenly interrupted by a yell from behind him that even startled the younger ones out of their silent shock.

They all turned to look at the source of the sound and found Lance who was still on the ground, his hands were behind him keeping himself up, his legs slightly stretched in front of him. His eyes were wide and his teeth were clenched in fear. Genma had rarely seen Lance so afraid and whenever he did, it was definitely an 'oh shit' moment. They stared at him and he turned to look at them with terror filled eyes.

"Run." Was all he said, before he started doing just that. They promptly followed suet, running in the direction of the ship.

"Everyone!" yelled Lance into the communicator. "Haul ass to the ship! NOW!

"Why the _fuck_ are we running?" yelled Mijel at him. "We NEVER run!"

"We do for _this_!" Lance answered. "Now shut up and run!"

At that moment the ground under them started to shake hard. The men lost their balance and fell. Bardock got up and took to the sky, just as he did the ground where he had been exploded and something came out of the ground, fast. Bardock dodged it just in time for it to miss his face. It was long and white like a pipe but a hundred times bigger. It looked metallic, but that soon changed when it suddenly bended itself like a tentacle. Genma watched in horror as it shot towards him with incredible speed. He wasn't able to get out of the way fast enough and it ended wrapping itself around Genma's torso and lifting him up violently into the air. He tried to hit it with his fists but he suddenly felt his energy bring drained from him. Bardock tried to get to him but was blocked by another tentacle that had shot itself out of the ground. Many more were coming out as well and started attacking the other men. Genma soon lost track of the others as he struggled against the thing's grasp, but the more he fought it the weaker he felt. His awareness of the others presence was starting to slip away and he was losing consciousness. He was dimly aware of someone yelling his name but he couldn't tell which of his friends it was. Before he completely lost consciousness he vaguely noticed the rush of air and the hitch of his stomach as he was rapidly pulled down.

"We've got you now Sai, you won't escape this time."

Saotome Genma woke up with a start. He stared at the ceiling with his eyes wide open in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. What had that dream been all about? He sat up in his bed and rubbed his temple in pain. He looked to his side and saw his wife Nodoka sleeping peacefully next to him, her gorgeous auburn hair fanned out around her and her beautiful pale features were set in peaceful slumber. It was moments like these, as Genma watched her, that he wondered how he had managed to marry her, let alone get her to be interested in him at all.

_Hahahahaha! How in hell did you manage to get Nodoka to date you man? You bribe her?_

That voice! A memory? Was that… Kent? Genma shook his head, trying to clear his head, but images and voices of different people that could only be memories kept popping into his head. There were so many of them! And… he knew them all! He remembered them, but from where? Who was he? What was all of this? What was going on? He clutched at his head as if it was going to split open and tried to shake the onslaught of images and sounds from his head. But they wouldn't stop. He started breathing heavily and bit his lip to stop any sound from coming out and waking his wife. He felt as if he was going crazy and almost yelled out in fear.

"Wake up, Gen. It's about time you remembered."

Genma gasped as he heard that voice. The images stopped suddenly as he looked up and around him. There was no one in the room with him and Nodoka. They were alone. But he was sure. That had been him.

"Kent'nye?"

"What is it honey?" Nodoka asked him sleepily from her position on the cot. Genma turned to look at her. She looked at him with eyes half open rubbing one of them.

"Nothing love. Just need to go to the bathroom. Go back to sleep." He told her gently.

Nodoka frowned at him a little. He turned away from her and got out of bed and left for the bathroom. He could feel her eyes on him as he left the room. He got to the bathroom and closed the door, locking it and headed to the sink. He placed his hands on either side and hung his head thinking.

He remembered. All of it. He remembered Kent'nye. He remembered how Kent used to tease him about being the youngest calling him 'baby Genny'. He remembered Bardock getting angry at them for fighting over stupid things. He remembered Lance sitting in his chair reading. He remembered Mijel glaring at him for stealing his piece of fish. He remembered all of the others, their missions together, the dangers they faced, the laughs they had. That dream had been no dream. It was his memory, along with everything after he woke. He looked up and looked at himself in the mirror. He frowned at his image, he also remembered, that _that_ was not what he looked like.

What he was looking at was an old fat man with glasses, with no hair and long ugly features. That man in the mirror was a man of horrible principles and cruel games, a man that hurt his own son for his own gain. That _ugly_ man was not Genma. _That _man was a lie he had hidden behind for far too long. Genma glared at the image glaring back at him and watched as the image changed. From under the white bandana on his head came thick short black hair with lots of bangs, his face became a little more rounded and younger, his body became slimmer and more athletic and his eyes were more serious. He looked like an older version of his son. Now, that man in the mirror was Genma. He grinned at the mirror mischievously and nodded at his image.

"There you are Genma." he told himself. "_That's _what you are supposed to be."

He looked at himself in the mirror and frowned thinking. But why now? Why was he remembering who he was _now_? Why had he forgotten to begin with? As he thought about it he came to realize that he had holes in his memory. Somewhere in there was the answer. Kent'nye. It all came back to his friend.

"Kent. You brought me back, I know you did. Why man? What happened? What's going on?" no one answered. Genma had a feeling that this was just the beginning. There was something else going on.

Something was about to happen.

A/N: Sorry, the end was a bit rushed but I hope you liked it.


End file.
